"When he gets heat for saying multiculturalism is bunk and crap and he doesn't back down from that, the citizens love that," says Del. Anthony O'Donnell, the Republican minority whip.
Junkies: By the way, the governor is intense with his picks. He certainly is. Throughout the day he's constantly checking his games.
As a stormy legislative session nears its end in Maryland, the political football called malpractice reform is hurtling toward Gov. Robert Ehrlich.
(Lucian Perkins -- The Washington Post)
|
|
Ehrlich: I have to tell you guys, after halftime when I went up to [Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti's] box, and Condi Rice was there. I'm talking to her. I said, "Excuse me, Madam Secretary. Gotta go check the scores. I'll be right back to you."
Junkies: Hahaha!
Conveying regular guyness is a priceless political asset. Ehrlich says the key is a sense of humor, and you either have it or you don't.
"It shows that you're able to, as you take your job seriously, maybe not take yourself so seriously," he says. "I think there's a distinction there that successful people understand: What you do is important. I mean, I just came from a budget meeting. Those decisions are important. But taking yourself too seriously is, I think, one of the real illnesses of life."
He does a lot of barnstorming as well to bypass the legislators and address the voters personally. "The reason for it is, we start out generally 2-to-1 on every vote, so in order to achieve policy, I try to take advantage of the currency I have with the people," he says.
Visits by the Guv put Democratic legislators in swing districts on edge. "The governor is so popular in our district, his appearance does have an impact," says Sen. Philip Jimeno, a moderate Democrat from Anne Arundel County.
But Democrats grumble that Ehrlich should focus more on dealing with them directly. "If he spent one-tenth as much time working the legislature the way he works the Maryland constituency, he could get the job done," says Democratic Sen. Thomas "Mac" Middleton, a moderate from Charles County.
Noontime outside the College Park Metro station, the Guv gives what amounts to a master class in barnstorming. He's handing out $20 million for roads, sidewalks, lighting, fruits of his bill passed by the legislature last session. He's in enemy territory -- did anyone vote for him in College Park? -- yet he's getting Democrats to take a second look.
"We pulled the precinct sheets," says Democratic Sen. John Giannetti, whose district this is, welcoming the governor. "I don't know who that person is, but somebody voted for you."
The governor throws his arm around a thin young man in a baggy sports coat. He is Aaron Kraus, 21, president of the University of Maryland student body. They met last year when Kraus launched a hunger strike outside the governor's mansion to protest Ehrlich's veto of a tuition cap. The Guv invited him into the mansion one night when it rained.
Now Ehrlich is delivering on a promise he made to Kraus on a college radio show: money for lighting on pedestrian routes to the Metro station.
"You just gotta learn how to suck up to the governor and you'll be all right," Ehrlich tells Kraus. "I'm going to make him a Republican if it kills me!"
"I've come to respect him," Kraus says later. He's still mad about the veto, but the Guv made -- and kept -- another promise: a "bump" in higher education funding in the new state budget due this month.
Junkies: Hey, governor, we gotta go here, but in the last 30 seconds . . . what's the hot-button issue of the last couple of days?
Ehrlich: It's this medical malpractice . . . Major issue here. Big-time issue.
